Chapter Five
Tiffany whispered, barely heard by Stacy and Quinn, "I think she's been like, you know, possessed, like that old movie where that girl started floating up in the air and spitting that, ewww, green stuff."
Stacy was already terrified, and stammered, "Possessed? You mean, by the Devil? Are you saying Sandi is a devil from Hell, and we're trapped here with her!?"
Tiffany considered for a second, "Well, of course she's been possessed by the Devil, I don't think angels do things like that, do they?"
Stacy let out a shriek, and scrambled to her feet, running toward the door. She fumbled for a second with the old doorknob, before dashing outside into the howling blast of the storm. Quinn had been staring at Sandi's fallen form, listening to the two girls, but not really paying attention until she heard the door slam open
Quinn shouted at the kneeling Tiffany, "Tiffany, that was just a movie! It wasn't real!"
"Oh, it wasn't?" Tiffany said.
Quinn just looked at her for a moment, then muttered "Oh, no!" before she buttoned up her jacket and ran out after her, leaving Tiffany alone with the unconscious Sandi, still kneeling on the floor besides her. The blast of wind from the door attracted her attention. She stood up slowly, walked over to the door and closed it. She briefly wondered if she should go after the other two, then decided against it, not knowing what direction they had gone in. Besides, her leg was hurting her, from her fall outside earlier.
She looked back at Sandi, still laying on the floor. Her breathing was still loud, but at least she wasn't talking in that scary voice any more. The slender Vietnamese girl worried about what she should do for her friend. She had always avoided taking the losing side in the Fashion Club conflicts, but she really did like Sandi, had always admired her take charge attitude, and liked her even more now that she was nicer."I really shouldn't leave her lying on the floor like that, but I can't pick her up by myself, "Tiffany thought to herself, "and she's getting all dirty and sweaty down there." A sudden thought struck her. "Quinn left me alone here with Sandi, so she trusted me to take care of her while she's trying to help Stacy. But what can I do by myself?" She thought for a moment and sighed. Sitting down on the dusty floor next to Sandi, she struggled to pull Sandi into her lap, wrapping her arms around the limp girl. Sandi seemed small, not the dominating figure she normally was even now. She shivered in Tiffany's arms, but slowly relaxed, her loud breathing quieting. "Ew, this is so gross!"Tiffany thought."Is this how a mom feels?"
Stacy bolted out of the cabin, not even buttoning up her jacket. The savage cold bit into her, causing a sharp gasp, her pounding heart drove her onward, Sandi's strange words eating into her. Stumbling blindly through the high drifts, her feet broke into the stiff crusts.. Her every breath was like a sharp dagger, deep in her lungs. Only her sheer stark terror of what she thought Sandi had become drove her onward. Bare leafless branches slashed at her already numb face like claws, drawing blood. Hearing a shout behind her only drove her faster, and she ran face first into the massive drift of snow trapping them in the grove of trees surrounding the cabin
She sprawled on her face, the snowbank coming down on top of her. Her arms and legs flailed on either side of her, churning the deep snow trapping her. Tiny crystals of pure ice filled her screaming mouth, choking her, her lips and tongue growing numb. Her breathing stopped. Stacy could feel her frantically beating heart slow, her hot blood chilling into an icy slush. She felt her entire body growing chill, an intense feeling of peace washing over her, easing her fear. She was safe here, hidden under the snow. The devils in Sandi couldn't find her here, all she had to do was fall quietly asleep. A brief regret flitted through her sluggish thoughts, "Oh, Sandi, I'm so sorry! You were so nice, like you were before you got so jealous of Quinn. Quinn, I wish I could have told you how great I thought you were, without scaring you this time! Tiffany, I never really understood you, but you were coming out of your shell, I only wish...." her thoughts trailed off, as the she fell quietly asleep, buried under the deep snow.
Quinn struggled through the deep snow and tangling brush.. Stacy's footprints in the drifting snow were being rapidly erased, filled in by the gusting wind.. She stumbled, her face and feet getting very numb from the searing cold.
Stacy stirred, dimly hearing Quinn's frantic shouts, and sleepily opened her eyes. At first, she couldn't see anything at all, only a blinding darkness. Then, slowly, the snow supporting and trapping her seemed to gradually fade away, and a dim light seemed to appear. She seemed to be floating in midair, looking down at the ground. The ground then seemed to fade out as well under her. She could see rocks and tree roots, seeming to be suspended in midair. Stacy's numb lips parted in a wide smile as she took in the amazing sight.
Slowly, her eyes drifted, not wondering at anything, taking it all in, in an almost childish delight. Her eyes were drawn to a cluster of white, stick-like shapes, almost seeming to glow with their own inner light. The shapes slowly grew sharper, more distinct. As she stared at them, Stacy slowly realized that these were not only bones, but human bones. They grew brighter, almost like a frozen star. With a sudden flash, they seemed to grow together, forming a body covered by a white robe.
The image was tiny, but incredibly distinct and clear. Stacy saw a young woman, with Asian features, and long, black hair. Her raw beauty took Stacy's breath away, making her feel plain, homely. She didn't seem to be any older than Stacy herself. Her skin was very pale, her lips a brilliant red, her long black hair seeming to float in a faint breeze. Her feet were bare and very small, with small, perfect toes. Stacy slowly understood that the woman was wearing a Japanese kimono, woven of an very fine white silk, it's fine folds caressed by the same wind teasing her hair.
"She is so beautiful!" Stacy thought. "More beautiful than anybody I've ever known! She's like an ange1! But the poor thing is buried out here, so far away from anybody. She must be so lonely."
The unmoving figure grew slowly in Stacy's eyes, seeming to be floating slowly toward her, until it seemed that the white robed figure was floating just beneath her. The thin kimono caressed the other woman's body, revealing slight glimpses of her porcelain perfection, her long slender legs, small high breasts. Stacy gasped at this body, so teasingly revealed. She longed to have that same perfection, to be beautiful, instead of just "pretty." A deep longing filled her aching heart.
As she stared hopelessly, she saw the ruby red lips slowly parting, revealing small, sharp, white teeth. She suddenly realized that this woman, whatever else she might be, wasn't really "dead." She waited for what she now knew was going to happen.
The pale skin over the white kimono clad woman's eyes stirred, as her eyes opened. Her large pupils seemed to fill her eyes, and Stacy felt herself falling deep into them. They floated closer and closer, until Stacy thought they could almost touch. A faint, sad smile filled the other woman's face, and their lips lightly met.
Stacy had already lost all feeling in her body. She watched in fascination, as a white mist seemed to be drawn from her motionless lips, into the other woman's throat. She waited, feeling herself as only an empty shell, soon to be filled.
The other woman then exhaled, a sparkling icy mist, that poured down Stacy's throat, filling her with a chill strength, tasting, oddly enough,.like cherries. Stacy gasped at the icy energy that filled her, and screamed, shuddering, before she passed out. Faintly, she heard the word, "Soon."
Quinn, her head down, stood despairingly in front of the bank of snow, her body shivering in the harsh wind, unable to understand in her numbness where Stacy was. Suddenly, she cocked her head, hearing a faint scream. Stacy convulsively kicked, her shoe now sticking out of the snowbank. Quinn grabbed at it, pulling Stacy out of the snow. The other girl seemed asleep, and Quinn tried to drag her, her own strength seeming to fail as she stumbled.
Stacy blinked, suddenly waking, angry at losing her dream. She looked in confusion at the exhausted, gasping Quinn, then stood up, supporting her friend back to the cabin, not wondering at her newfound strength, or sense of direction. The events of her burial rapidly faded in her mind.